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Former lawmakers waging 2014 comeback campaigns

WASHINGTON—There is a running joke about Congress that the institution's approval ratings have been so low for so long that lawmakers are down to immediate family members and their staffs. But there's another

WASHINGTON — There is a running joke about Congress that the institution's approval ratings have been so low for so long that the only positive ratings come from lawmakers' immediate family members and staff. But there's another group to add to the list of fans: former members of Congress.

"I think it's an honor to serve. I think it's an honor to walk in those halls. I think it's an honor to be on the floor with other members of Congress who are duly elected," said former representative Frank Guinta, R-N.H., who was defeated in 2012 after serving only one term, but is keen to return.

Guinta is one of at least 18 former members of Congress who are running comeback campaigns in 2014. The common string running through the 18 comeback campaigns is none of them left on their own terms. They were all defeated in re-election fights.

Recent history — and several races in competitive territory — suggest some of them will be back next year.

Sixteen current U.S. House members have served non-consecutive terms, according to the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, with 14 of them returning since 2010 alone when a GOP wave election and the 2012 redrawing of congressional districts presented new opportunities to former lawmakers.

Return bids to the Senate are less common but not impossible, as Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., proved in 2010 when he returned more than a decade after his 1998 retirement. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., also waged a successful comeback in 2002 after a brief retirement and served until his death last year.

According to the Senate Historical Office, 35 senators have served non-consecutive terms in office since the 17th Amendment allowed for their popular election.

Three former senators and one former House lawmaker are waging comeback Senate bids this year. Former senator Bob Smith, R-N.H., and former senator Scott Brown, R-Mass., who changed his home state residency to run, are vying in the New Hampshire GOP primary.

In Mississippi, former Democratic representative Travis Childers is running an uphill race for the Senate seat held by GOP Sen. Thad Cochran, while former senator Larry Pressler, R-S.D., is now running as an independent for the open South Dakota seat.

Nathan Gonzales, a non-partisan election analyst for The Rothenberg Political Report, said former lawmakers can bring distinct advantages to a race because they have established donors, name identification among voters, and party contacts. But they can also carry negatives from their past voting records and political campaigns. "It's harder to run as a political outsider," he said.

But former representative Bob Dold, R-Ill., sees his one prior House term as an asset. "I think the biggest difference is that people have something to gauge off of," said Dold, who had never served in elected office before his 2010 election but who had a moderate voting record among a 2010 class characterized by Tea Party conservatism. "We built a reputation as someone who can work with the other side of the aisle."

Former one-term representative Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., is vying to win his former U.S. House seat.(Photo: Carlos Osorio, AP)

Other Republicans seeking comebacks are representatives Doug Ose of California, Charles Djou of Hawaii, Quico Canseco of Texas, Bob Barr of Georgia, Bobby Schilling of Illinois and Nan Hayworth of New York. Former Democratic representative Gene Taylor of Mississippi is also running again, but he switched parties and is now running as a Republican.

Former representative Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., is one of five former Democratic members seeking to return. Clarke is running for his former seat. He was ousted in an intraparty primary fight against Rep. Gary Peters in 2012, but Peters is now running for the U.S. Senate. Clarke said recent drug-related deaths of a cousin and a high school friend fueled his decision to run again. He said he thinks serving in Congress is the best way to advance policies to help the families in his district who are suffering under similar stresses.

"I had to pray about it," he said, adding that he was content with his life outside of elected office. "Congress is just out of touch with what families are going through."

Former representatives Joe Baca of California and Marjorie Margolies of Pennsylvania are also in races that could return them to Congress, while former representatives Edwin Edwards of Louisiana (a former governor who served almost a decade in federal prison on racketeering, conspiracy and extortion charges) and Richard Stallings, from conservative Idaho, are less likely to succeed.

Margolies had perhaps one of the more memorable one-term stints in Congress, where she is best remembered for casting the deciding vote for President Clinton's 1993 budget. Republicans on the House floor jeered and sang "Goodnight, Marjorie" as the vote was aired live on C-SPAN. She lost her re-election bid in 1994.

"They were all forced into retirement, so it may be no surprise that they want to come back," said Gonzales.